


wrapped in lace, embroiled by flowers

by TheGodWith5Yen



Series: these new moments, these new lives [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crushes, Emotional Constipation, F/F, Friendship/Love, Laughter, Lesbian Character, Love Confessions, Trans Clone Troopers (Star Wars), Trans Female Character, just a bit <3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:33:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27554656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGodWith5Yen/pseuds/TheGodWith5Yen
Summary: “And why are you smiling?” Moon asked with a small smirk as she grabbed the last of the brushes and quickly dried them off.“I can’t smile?” Chela asked as her smile widened. She dried her hands off and carefully folded up the towel as she set it back down.“You can smile. You should always smile. You have a beautiful smile.”Her heart beat fast inside of her chest. So fast Chela wondered if it was about to run out on her. Goodbye heart! No need for you when the beaming smile of Moon alone could give Chela a burst of energy strong enough to keep her blood flowing! Chela smiled and glanced down at her feet, smoothing at her soft blue tunic as she forced herself to settle. What was with her whenever Moon was around?
Relationships: Original Clone Trooper Character(s)/Original Jedi Character(s)
Series: these new moments, these new lives [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2014105
Kudos: 15





	wrapped in lace, embroiled by flowers

**Author's Note:**

> chapter title from "Ivory Tower" by Nova Twins
> 
> I was like 'maybe I'll write something about Moon and Chela' and YES I just posted and finished little warrior today, yes I wrote this is like an hour and am posting it this is my business <3 
> 
> Anyways please enjoy this <3

The paintbrushes in her hands fell and Chela cursed quietly under her breath as she moved to pick them up. She froze for a moment before realizing that the younglings were all in bed for the night, thank the Force. The day had been a bit hectic, especially after Master Vos had unexpectedly been unable to arrive at the crèche like had been planned for days. As much as Chela wanted to be frustrated at the man, she knew it wasn’t exactly something he could change if he got called away off planet for his duties. Besides, Chela and the other crèchemasters had spent three years reworking their younglings schedules from the usual since so many Jedi Masters, Knights, and Padawans had been off fighting in the war. 

Chela carefully cleaned off the paintbrushes, scrubbing here and there at dried paint on the bristles before setting them in a row onto a dry towel next to the sink. She had settled enough into a rhythm, finding herself in a light meditation, when a knock at the door startled her and she glanced back with blinking eyes before smiling widely. “Moon. I wasn’t expecting you! Hello my cherished friend.” 

Moon smiled, small and shy, as she moved into the room. She still wore her armour, but her helmet was hooked to her waist so Chela could see her face—her thick eyebrows with the small scar through the left from some accident she apparently had as a youngling back on Kamino, her long hair was braided so that her undercut was visible, short hair that Chela had helped her friend dye a mix of purple and blue that looked stunning in the waning light as the sun set. “Sorry to disturb you. I just, I. I was going to come visit you at your quarters, but you hadn’t been in so I assumed you would still be here. Do you need help?” 

“Well, perhaps you could help me dry these brushes as I wash them?” Chela asked with a small smile. “Then we could head back to my quarters if you like.” She pushed a lock of her hair out of her face, crinkling her nose slightly when she got water on her cheek and ear, but glanced over at her friend to see what she would answer. 

Moon, lovely, wonderful Moon, gave a grin and a nod. “Sounds like a plan.” 

Together, they silently moved through the motions of cleaning the brushes. The only sounds was the clinking of brushes as Moon placed them into their designated jar, the splash of water, and the occasional giggle with Chela met Moon’s gaze. There was something about Moon that always made her giddy, her chest light and her fingers nearly numb. It was like the jubilant feeling she got when she drank a little too much champagne, her whole body suddenly light and everything silly and beautiful. She couldn’t even imagine drinking with Moon around! Chela could only imagine how drunk she would become if this was how she felt sober around the woman! 

“And why are you smiling?” Moon asked with a small smirk as she grabbed the last of the brushes and quickly dried them off. 

“I can’t smile?” Chela asked as her smile widened. She dried her hands off and carefully folded up the towel as she set it back down. 

“You can smile. You should always smile. You have a beautiful smile.” 

Her heart beat fast inside of her chest. So fast Chela wondered if it was about to run out on her. Goodbye heart! No need for you when the beaming smile of Moon alone could give Chela a burst of energy strong enough to keep her blood flowing! Chela smiled and glanced down at her feet, smoothing at her soft blue tunic as she forced herself to settle. What was with her whenever Moon was around? Why couldn’t she behave like usual? Why was Moon so different? Was it because she was so beautiful it made her ache in the sudden want to hold her face and tell her, always always, that she was the most magnificent sight Chela had ever seen. She was. Moon was.

Chela licked her lips and glanced up to meet Moon’s eyes. “Not as lovely as yours.” Her hands shook and she forced them to still, clasping them behind her back as she made herself watch her friends face. 

“It really isn’t.” 

“Of course it is. Everything about you is beautiful.”

“Beautiful isn’t really a word I’ve heard used about me.” 

Chela stepped forward, careful and slow, and grabbed her friends hands. They were covered in her dark gloves, but Moon let Chela wrap her hands around her palms. Moon was so much taller than Chela, whose own younglings were beginning to become taller than her as they grew closer and closer to becoming Padawans, and she had to glance up to look at her face. Moon was frowning slightly, but closed her fingers around Chela’s. “Never listen to anyone else’s words my cherished Moon. They are pure osik.” 

The curse was unfamiliar in her mouth, but Chela had been around clones for long enough to pick up the meaning. Moon blinked at her sudden foul mouth, her lips twitching as amusement shifted about around her in the Force. 

“You’re going to laugh?” Chela asked with a squeeze of Moon’s hands. 

“No.” A beat before Moon let out a huffing breath and admitted, “yes. Sorry. I didn’t expect you to say that.” 

“Osik.” Chela repeated with a grin, enjoying how her friend folded as she began to laugh, deep and ringing. Moon placed her head on Chela’s shoulder and laughed and laughed until Chela joined in as well, their laughter nearly uncontrollable as they fed off each other. As their laughter settled down, Chela whispered, “I’m not lying you know. I would never lie to you. You’re beautiful.” 

Moon’s fingers twitched from where they rested on Chela’s shoulder. “Stop.  _ Please _ .”

“Why?” 

“Because you’ll only feed into my desperate, unforgiving hope.” Moon whispered, small and broken and wet. She had never heard her friend sound like this before and it made her heart want to break. Chela breathed in as she took in Moon’s words, Moon’s actions, and her own emotions, so foreign and odd and vibrant. She had never felt like this before, so happy, so lively, not until Moon and her smile and her voice and her presence had become a permanent fixture into her life. 

“I can’t stop.” Chela set her cheek against her friend's shoulder. “I can’t stop because it’s how I feel. I.” She opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. The words wouldn’t move past her stupid lips and she could only let out a weak squeak. She wanted to say it. She did. There was nothing else she wanted to do, but now that she realized it, wanted  _ this _ , she couldn’t make the words move past her throat. Chela closed her eyes and shook her head. “I think you’re  _ so _ beautiful Moon.” 

_ I care for you so much. I find your every action to be an act of beauty. I want to show you my world and know yours as well as my own. I want to hold you. I want you. I want you so bad my heart sings. I love you. _

They stayed like that for minutes, hours, seconds, days, before Moon shifted and met Chela’s eyes. And she knew with a certainty that made her chest lighten up all over again that Moon knew what she wanted to say, but couldn’t. Maybe it was her upbringing that kept the words from moving past her lips like she wanted it  _ so kriffing badly _ , maybe it had been the denial inside her heart that she could have anything more than a friendship with Moon. Maybe maybe maybe. It didn’t matter because Moon understood. And she smiled, so bright and beautiful, and rested her forehead against Chela’s. 

It was enough. 

“Moons are always beautiful, why would you be any different?” Chela whispered. 

Her Moon snorted and shook her head. “By the Maker Chela.”

“Bad?”

“Too good.” Moon chuckled. “Keep calling me beautiful and I’ll kneel over.” 

A beat of silence and Chela opened her mouth, only for Moon to laugh and move to press her hand over her mouth. They laughed together, again, so full of a potential as they still held close to each other as the Coruscant moon began to rise. 


End file.
